Food availability and long-term predation risk interactively affect antipredator response.

Autor: Shiratsuru S; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2R3, Canada., Majchrzak YN; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2R3, Canada., Peers MJL; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2R3, Canada., Studd EK; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2R3, Canada.; Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, St-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, H9X 3V9, Canada., Menzies AK; Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, St-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, H9X 3V9, Canada., Derbyshire R; Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada., Humphries MM; Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, St-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, H9X 3V9, Canada., Krebs CJ; Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Murray DL; Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada., Boutin S; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2R3, Canada.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ecology [Ecology] 2021 Sep; Vol. 102 (9), pp. e03456. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jul 22.
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3456
Abstrakt: Food availability and temporal variation in predation risk are both important determinants of the magnitude of antipredator responses, but their effects have rarely been examined simultaneously, particularly in wild prey. Here, we determine how food availability and long-term predation risk affect antipredator responses to acute predation risk by monitoring the foraging response of free-ranging snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) to an encounter with a Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) in Yukon, Canada, over four winters (2015-2016 to 2018-2019). We examined how this response was influenced by natural variation in long-term predation risk (2-month mortality rate of hares) while providing some individuals with supplemental food. On average, snowshoe hares reduced foraging time up to 10 h after coming into close proximity (≤75 m) with lynx, and reduced foraging time an average of 15.28 ± 7.08 min per lynx encounter. Hares tended to respond more strongly when the distance to lynx was shorter. More importantly, the magnitude of hares' antipredator response to a lynx encounter was affected by the interaction between food-supplementation and long-term predation risk. Food-supplemented hares reduced foraging time more than control hares after a lynx encounter under low long-term risk, but decreased the magnitude of the response as long-term risk increased. In contrast, control hares increased the magnitude of their response as long-term risk increased. Our findings show that food availability and long-term predation risk interactively drive the magnitude of reactive antipredator response to acute predation risk. Determining the factors driving the magnitude of antipredator responses would contribute to a better understanding of the indirect effects of predators on prey populations.
(© 2021 by the Ecological Society of America.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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